When you were doing five miles, were you on the road or a treadmill?

:woohoo: Kelly! 4.6 lbs is awesome :woohoo: You doubled that 2 lb miniumum, great job!

Rhonda--I deal with depression as well, though it's not half as bad when I exercise daily. :hug: are you taking anything for it? If not, get on that treadmill, it will lighten more and more each day.

Selina--Almost half a year OP...you are just amazing, girl :dance: esp. with all you have going on with the kiddos.

Vanessa :hug: I will pray for him, and for you as well. I hope things lighten up your way soon.

I enjoyed my day off exercise yesterday, and my legs feel much better today. So I started the day off with Jillian front side and made them hurt good again :lol: not as bad a couple days ago, so it's a good hurt. Today is day seven OP and doing Jillian first thing in the morning is feeling like habit already. It's one of my eating objectives to be OP and I look forward to it everyday. It's finding the time for cardio that has been a struggle.

DDs birthday party is Saturday at the skating rink and I have decided I am going to skate when the party is over! I will be busy taking pictures, helping my 3 yo skate, etc. during, but when people start leaving I am going to stay and skate with the kids...I am excited and nervous, but I did it once when i was at my heaviest so no reason I can't do it now. Hubby might have to go out west and won't be here :cry: he wants to be there, but he might not have a choice. Sometimes I really, realy hate his job. But, I have to smile and be thankful he works so I can stay home with the kids, so it's kinda hard to complain to him...so I'll just dump it on you guys, sorry!

anna - Look at you you sexy little momma! :whoo:

I love a photo where you can use your kid to hide the tummy pooch that she created.

Chellez, sorry you're getting sick. Remember...pamper the princess!

Purple - roller skating sounds like great fun. I've never been able to learn how to skate. I've tried many times, but just don't have the grace.

Anna - Love the picture! I understand why some people don't like to post pictures because of privacy issues, etc, but it sure is nice to get an idea of who you're talking with. Regarding your question.....I used to run on pavement. This was about 15 years ago. Now, I wouldn't think of running on pavement because of the possible damage to the knees, but I never even thought about stuff like that when I was younger.

You might try pavement. There is such a difference physiologically between pushing off (road) and resisting pull (treadmill). It might be worth a try.

Fine, I'll do it too. Limited time only though, I really hate to see pictures of myself. ;)

Thanks for posting!! I had given you my prejudicial, stereotype of southern big hair and too much make up. Your pic is great!

:rofl: Oh, I have those pictures too; but that's from high school in the 80's.

Awww Dee! You are so pretty! Don't you take that picture down!

*points to self* I wear lots of makeup :rofl:

Just as a reminder...

Don't forget to post your $$ from yesterday.... including your last chance workouts from last night!

Though I feel great, am enjoying my exercise again...I am having a very rough time with hunger today. This has never happened to me before. It's 3:30 and I only have 100 calories left for the day and I am HUNGRY :cry: It's a 1200 calorie day and I'm thinking I can't handle these anymore. I have just been feeling hungry all day, not emotional or anything, just real hunger for some reason. I had a big salad with a lot of grilled chicken breast for breakfast (I don't like many breakfast foods so don't make myself eat them daily), then broccoli and meatballs with cheese for lunch, then one more serving of meatballs for snack just a few minutes ago because I couldn't take hunger anymore...but they didn't fill me up. These are turkey meatballs made by our local grocery store, and they are really big and yummy. They ususally fill me up because 1 serving is 3 big meatballs, but today I have had 9 of them total plus the salad and broccoli and I have been starving all day :?:

...and it's making me grumpy :cry:

Wanted to add that Pam (heweysgirlalways) has not been around this week because her kids are very, very sick, and they cannot find out what is wrong with them. She should be at the ER with them right now, at least I think she was going to rush them off when I talked to her a bit ago. You heard Ellie talk about her grandkids yesterday, and these are her grandkids. I hope you won't hold it against Pam if she doesn't post this week because her daughter has been sick for over a month now and is only getting worse and now her son has it...she is not sleeping, is stressed out to the max, and I just think it's not fair to hold it against her for not posting this week. Keep them in prayer and thoughts as well, they really need it.

Ummmmmm :stress: I was writing this stuff down last week but I can't find the paper anywhere. Called hubby because he cleaned off the desk and he, of course, has no idea what i"m talking about so he probably tossed it.

So question...is this all tying together somewhere where we have to be logging it all in for every single week? Or is each week like a fresh start? Just trying to decide if I need to go back to last week and start trying to remember, or just start with this week, or wait to next week :?:

OK, busy day here. Haven't had a chance to work out yet, but heading there at 4:15 when childcare roon re-opens.

Nice, nice, super nice to see faces for you Anna and Dee! It is funny how you get an image in your head and then when you see a pic it's different - obviously!!

Theresa - I say eat a little more today? Make it healthy and full of fiber. So if you're over by 300 calories? Try to shave off 50 each day over the next few days.

ok, read some of the posts.

Theresa, I can't do many 1200 days. I have to have it flexible where if I need to I go on up to 1600. Today is one of those days. I consider being on plan if I don't go over my highest allowed which is 1600. If I eat 1600 for all 7 days I just don't lose but it's still better than my 4000 cals a day like I can do with no problem! Don't be hard on yourself. Today was hard for me, I ate from 9-12pm this morning and had almost all my cals by 1230pm. Hard hard day. :(

BBL if I can. Still OP but having a hard time.

I've had those days as well. :( Don't be hard on yourself. Remember you have to eat. Controlling eating is second in difficulty only to controlling BREATHING. It's necessary and the drive to do it is very strong!

I didn't even count calories yesterday and I'm sure the seven cookies (hey, they were SMALL ;) ) I ate over the course of the evening is going to catch up with me. Looks like it's egg & canadian bacon & water for me this morning!

I just posted my weight for this week...down 1.6 lb. but that is just since Monday since I'm getting back to reporting on my actual WI day, so not bad for 3 days loss. Next week will be bigger because I start today and won't WI until last day of the month, next Friday! Love the end of the month when my system gives me an extra day or two to lose.

I ended up having a "freebie salad" as I call it...fresh veggies and salad greens are considered free foods for me, so I made a salad with lettuce, baby spinach, green pepper, cucumber, and just a couple cherry tomatoes, topped by a tiny bit of lite balsamic vinegar dressing. The only calories where in the dressing and it's way low, so no big deal. it hleped a lot and I'll be sure when I figure calories today that there are no 1200 days. I put in 2.5 hours of exercise yesterday, and I need more calories to do all that!

Thanks to everyone who gave advice and was there to help me :hug:

Good morning, Bluesers!

Yesterday was day 7 of being on-plan. I think this is the longest consecutive time I've ever stayed on-plan. Unfortunately, the scales haven't moved at all since Monday's official weigh-in. I've been at the upper limit of my calories and not working out, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Today is a 1200 calorie day for me and I will be getting on the treadmill today. I took some time to read the Cool Runners thread yesterday and I made a list for myself on my blog of reasons to exercise. There are tons of great reasons so it would be extremely silly of me to not get going.

Purple - Congratulations on your loss! :carrot:
Heather - :drill: No more cookies! Planned treats only, right?
Selina - I'm sorry you had a rough day yesterday. How are you doing
today?
Dee - Love the picture! You look exactly like I imagined...cute!
Anna - I really would prefer to walk/run outside, but I'm terrified of big dogs. We live in a more rural area of Georgia and people aren't always considerate. And, there are a ton of big dogs in my subdivision! Yesterday, I asked Hubby if he would consider starting the C25K with me and running outside a couple of times a week. He said yes.:)

Today, its cloudy and overcast...no sun at all. And, I still have this project hanging over my head. But, I'm feeling so much more optimistic and cheerful compared to yesterday. Not sure why, but I'm going to enjoy the ride. Hope you're having a great on-plan day!

Its official....

I have the flu

or at least WebMD tells me I do... So I'm home from work today drinking my water (which by the way if you have a hard time getting in your 64 oz.... its torture on a swollen throat.)

:lol: I'm not being a good :cheer: as of late am I?

OK, so Rhonda just mentioned "PLANNED TREATS" and I thought it'd be interesting to use it as a QOTD:

What are you favorite planned treats?

• Frozen berry mix (from Costco) with plain (usually Greek style) yogurt stirred in. This almost screams "ice cream" to me. I let the berries sit out a little so the juice thaws and then it's not so sour.
• A couple oz of banana with 1 T PB on it. This is not so much a "planned treat", but it works for me when I'm having a chocolate attack.
• Skinny cow or Dryers Light ice cream sandwiches - 140 cal/1.5gfat I think.

:hug: Hope you get well soon, Chellez. The flu sucks, I feel for ya.

Rhonda, take advantage of that better mood and get on that treadmill :cheer:

RHONDA - This is HUGE! Being OP consistantly is a great habit! You'll see the scale move. That's great that Dh is going to run with you. Is he one of those fit kinds? My DH is not naturally that way - he works at it. Before I knew him he got up to 300 pounds for a short time. It's so hard for me to imagine him that way since he's been basically the same for over 10 years now.

CHELLEZ - sorry you are sick. Sore throats are the worst kind of pain. Do you get strep easily? This time of year really sucks. There's a superflu bug going around the hospital where my DH works and it's kinda freaked me out when I think about it. Or it getting into our home...

THERESA - congrats on you loss. What's your system - why do you have the different time frames for weighing in again? You're just like the real show TBL!!

Hope you all are starting a great OP day. I have personal training today and he's going to give me a new lower body routine! I love working lower body - it needs it so much.

Oh yeah, I got into my 16W (from Avenue) chinos yesterday! Quite easily. They do run a little *big*. My real happy moment will be getting into my regular size 16 stuff.:D

Heya!!! Hope you all are having a good day. I'm sorry to hear about Pam's kids, hope they get better soon, I'm sure she and Ellie and their family are worried sick. And Rhonda, hmm.. I dunno about running, I only made it to two minutes a few times in my life. LOL.

Ok, my answer to the question:

Blue Bunny fudgesicles.... 100 cals. low fat

Pudding cups....120 cals, not sure fat and these aren't sugar free

8oz of coke, frozen in fridge til you can eat it with a spoon.... 100 cals I think

Grapefruit, sectioned then all pulp mixed up together with 2 tsp sugar, then eaten with my son's baby spoon, takes forever and realllly good. Not sure of cals, but not bad, maybe 100-150.

On day 180 I think. Yesterday was my worst day yet. Had to force myself to stop early in the day. Had a cucumber late to help til morning. I just don't know if I will make it the second half of the year. I want to, very bad! I just know that I'm going thru alot and I just don't know if I will have that kind of power over myself. I want so bad to believe that I do tho.

I'm reading Lorna Luft's family memoir about life with her mom, Judy Garland. And I'm also reading Elie Wiesel's Night. Soo goood, yet sooo sad, both of them, in different ways. Then I find myself washing dishes, turn on my tv in the kitchen to find babies coming home from the hospital, all tiny and perfect, parents exhausted the first week, etc.

Soooo depressing when you are wanting one. And for me I literally have NO control over when I get one, even worse than trying all month while taking fertility drugs and seeing a negative result on the stick, over and over, which we've done and won't do again. Not only do I have to wait for a 'call' to become a mother again, I have to take the baby and raise it as my own until it's judge in court decides it is to go to someone else. So I pray every day that it's here that it'll stay, if it's one we hope to adopt. Just don't know how many more I can lose and still try. And people in our families don't really feel like our babies died but we do when they go because we aren't allowed to talk to them ever again, or even ask how they are doing. So we grieve alone.

Guess I'll stop complaining and go try to be happy. You'd think having two already would make not getting a third easier. Why doesn't it?? One thing is I'm getting older, I turn 35 in Dec. I'm sure with the way it's been going, if we get one that can stay it still takes a year or more to sign papers and all that.. then we could lose several b4 getting to keep the fourth and I might be 40 with our last one or older. I don't want to be in my 60s when they are just getting grown, I want to be here to help with their kids and all that stuff!
Uggh, I'm just getting more mad. I better shut up.

Thanks for letting me vent, I wish there was sunshine here too Rhonda. I need it too, literally. Thought about getting the lamp thingy for when it doesn't come out. Hmmm... just wouldn't be the same tho. Sometimes Emily and I go lay out in the lounger in the backyard just to soak some up bc it makes my mood better. Weird but true. I think I have SAD, seasonal affective disorder bc my mood stays good from spring to fall usually then I have these dips all thru winter. So aggravating!!! :tantrum:

Please send some prayers my way that we get to move on with our lives and that we get a baby and it gets to stay.

Hugs, Selina :hug:

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to pop in and say WOW - we really won the weigh in this week!!!! Awesome! I'm so excited. I'm happy I lost too, and it feels good to accomplish goals that we set for ourselves!

QOTD: Planned snacks for me are plain popcorn and bananas. Boring I know. Most of my planned treats are things I enjoy when eating out with family/friends which I try to do very infrequently. Recently I went to a family dinner and it was ribs/corn/white rice, so I drove home (2 min away) and made myself a chicken salad w/balsalmic vinegar and told my MIL that NO I wasn't going to eat that stuff!!!

I don't do the thinsations treats, or mini bags of MMs or the light ice cream bars or any of that stuff. Just not my thing!! I'm really into whole foods/organic foods and those kinds of treats just don't fall in that category.

GO BLUE TEAM!

Cheers,
Ginger

I am not as good about it when I am alone, but when I have my little in the stroller, I ALWAYS have pepper spray. I had a dog come up on us one evening last year, very menacing. This poor woman with what looked like a two-month old baby came out to get it, but the more she tried to call him off, the more aggressive he seemed to be. I told her flat out that if the dog advanced one more step, he would be sprayed. She was able to get his collar.

My mom got bitten once, and I would not hesitate to blast a canine. I like to think that I could shout one down, but if not.....the spray is coming.

So, sorry, pal. Flu has been rampant here, even with those who were vaxed. Lots of hospitalizations.

Your pain and bravery are unimaginable to me. I could not keep putting myself out there the way you do, but I am so grateful that the children who pass over your threshold have you to care for them. :hug:

MomTo2 - A big congrats on getting into those 16's! :cheer:

Walmart sucks. I needed to pick up a few more sweatshirts for DH for work so I decided to hit the clearance racks at Kmart and Walmart. Not much selection left. Then I went over to the womens side to find a new shirt for myself. When the heck did they start calling a 2X size a 16-18???? Didn't a 14-16 used to be Large, an 18-20 XL, and 22-24 2X? It made me feel like a gigantic old whale walking around.

The only thing that made me feel better was I did find two sweatshirts from Kmart for DH. I wasn't sure what size he needed as sometimes he wears XL and sometimes 2X so I bought both. The XL fit ME! The last time I tried on his shirts and XL was to small. Probably a fluke but I'm gonna take it.

I got up and did my new WATP Walk & Kick this morning. That was a pleasant change. I don't think I had enough protein with breakfast though. I ate leftovers and I have been munching all day. Didn't help that I robbed a few of todays calories for dessert last night. The strawberry shortcake was worth every bite though. Probably a piece of fish and some veggies for dinner, no calories left for starches tonight. :nono:

:hug: Selina :hug: I'd like to say hang in there or it will get better, but with issues like these there is nothing in the world anyone else can say to make you feel better, so I'll just give you a big :hug: and send up a prayer that a baby out there in desparate need of a loving mommy will find you and stay forever. What does it take to get one that you can adopt...don't they know that is what you want? I don't know the system, but seems there has to be one baby somewhere you could love forever :cry: I want to cry with you.

zinke--you sound like me with stealing calories from the next day :) sometimes it is so worth it, long as the next day isn't stretched too thin.

momto--:carrot: for the 16s! I found early on that I get bored easily and need to change things up in all departments. So, I started with mondays as my WI then when I got tired of that I started waiting on the last week of the month and just weighing in on the last day of the month, then that day would become my new WI for the next month. It works well because I get excited for that last WI, my last chance to up my total lbs lost for the month. I don't get bored this way, it adds more motivation at the end of every month, and I get to track how many lbs lost each month easily. So, today was my last Thursday WI and I'll take my total for the month next Friday and I'll be weighing on Fri. for March.

I watched Montel yesterday and he had Poppy on there from BL...remember her? I loved her! She has kept her weight off and looks really good. She was on there for some teen weight loss challenge, she helped the teens through it. She said two things during the show that were very inspiring to me, and I thought i would share. I wrote them down so I could quote her exactly:

"It's not about the end result. It's about the decision to do it."

"It's not about 1 pound or 30 pounds, but about making that change within yourself."

I find these to be very true, after thinking about it last night. Once I really made the decision that I was going to do this no matter what, the focus shifted from the end result to all the little wonderful things that are happening along the way. And I love my scale and watching the numbers, but she really is right that what is really important is the changes that we are making in our own bodies, minds, and spirits. So true, made me think.

That's what I'm talking about! It's so easy to make the scale the focus - and it does need to go down - but it's soooo much more than that. Great quote. I remember Poppy also! Like her!

:hug:Selina:hug: - you are a beautiful human being and I hope your every wish in life is fulfilled. All of them! I'm sure you are very blessed for doing what you do. And the happiness must outweigh the hurt. I just don't know how you deal with the heartaches that come with each goodbye.:(

So, Josh KILLED me today at the gym. Like 4 new core/ab exercises and my legs are still sorta quivery from the new leg work.:dizzy: So many sumo squats, lunges and then these crazy hard Hamstring Rolls a body ball. I was embarrased of the sounds coming out of me. :o

Great job Rhonda on day 7. You are doing so well.

Purplefirefly - I like your salad idea. I'll file that idea away for when I have one of those days.

Selina - wow. 180 days. How sweet.

I'm on day 5 of decreased carbs. It's actually going quite good. The only struggle I'm having is to fit in a minimum of 20 grams of fiber each day. Flaxseed and broccoli to the rescue!

QOTD on treats.....I am really lucky that I don't have a huge sweet tooth but what usually satisfies when I want something sweet is a cup of peppermint or Chai tea with 2 sweetner and a bit of cream in it. That or fresh blueberries with a little spoon of cream.

Hi all, great job with the weight loss soooo far. Tonight I took a night off from studying and got my nails done. =)

planned treats-like snacks, special k-bars
like TREATS..... skim mocha (no whip cream)

Sorry I haven't been around. With the constant running inside and outside trying to housebreak the puppy and the upset in my normal sleep schedule, I think I dealt my immune system a blow. Now I'm in the midst of the flu. Like, it hurts to hold my head up (hence my not stopping by here for the past few days!). I'm going to take a "pass" on the weigh in this week, but hopefully I'll be back in full force next week. Hopefully everyone is well.

Hi Bluesers! TGIF!

I only have a couple of minutes, but wanted to check in. No exercise yet as I've been putting in long hours on this project. The scales have decided to smile for me a bit, so I started the day off on the right note. Now, if I could just get this project completed! Speaking of my project, I better get going on it. I'll check in again later and get "personal" with everyone.

WW desserts - usually the Key Lime Pie
1/2 cup of Eddy's No Sugar Added Butter Pecan
Orville Redenbacher's Smart Pop Kettle Korn - only 15 calories per cup!
5 ounces of red wine - makes my HDL's very happy!:D

Hope everyone has a great on-plan day. GO BLUE!!

SCgirl- I was just wondering where you have been. So good to hear from you. Sorry to hear that you've been sick. Take care of yourself. Seems like its going around now.

To all of you that aren't feeing so well...remember to pamper the princess!

A freebie day from the kids here. DH took them to grandma's house and they won't be back until after dinner. Woohoo! I only did 20 minutes on the treadmill this morning. Gotta scoot to work and run some errands but I am hoping to not get sidetracked when I get home this afternoon so I can get back on there and finish my hour.

I have joined the group that is starting the c25k program March 1st. My goal for the c25k was to run one for my birthday on July 12th. Hopefully we will be moving in the next few 8-12 weeks. I decided to do some hunting and I found a 5K run in our soon to be new town for July 19th. Perfect timing if I do say so myself. :)

Hope everyone who is down with the flu starts to feel better soon. I know Chellez said she had it too. To the rest of us, stay healthy!

Take care of yourself!

Gotta have the hooch once in a while.

Chelle--hope you are perking up.

Selina--holding your heart in the healing light

Everyone--try to find an NSV this weekend, even if it is just saying 'no' to something you don't need. Find strength and power in that NSV.

I am out of town AGAIN this weekend. Remember my truck that runs on used veg oil from restaurants? Well, DH's car is the one we bought to see if we could really do it. She (Helga) has 325,000 miles and is dying. We love her, and hate to see her go, but there is no heat, AC, cruise, radio and only two of the windows work. We are getting a new car to convert, and the perfect car was in Cleveland, so off we go to get it! Another Mercedes, but this one is gorgeous instead of pathetic.

Taxes are done, we don't owe. Thank heavens.

Going to put on a West Wing DVD and hop on the treadmill.

Good morning everyone,

I am about to go WI. I hope to be down again today. It is rainy here today. I have really had the munchies for the past couple of days. I guess TOM is going to come early. Well, I better go WI. I will let you all now how it goes later this afternoon.

To everyone that is sick- get some rest and pamper yourselves.

Rhonda- I hope that you get the project completed soon.

Zinkemomx2- enjoy you kid free day. Sometimes you definitely need those days. Relax

To everyone I missed have a great day.

Flu is getting better today but I'm still home from work.

I can at least get some breathing through my nose and I dont have a fever.

My sore throat still remains but its starting to head off.

I'm hoping by Monday I'll be well enough to weigh in and be down a pound or break even at least. I haven't really been eating a whole lot but I've been drinking water like crazy!

Okay, I went to WI and was up .4. I have been following plan. My counselor decided that I have hit a plateau. She suggested that I start some exercising. I guess I will try to do that. However, like I told her that last time I started doing those I gained 4 lbs. What is a girl to do???

Hey Blue team! I'm SO glad it is friday, bless the weekends!
Dionne - Sorry your weight went up. It's so frustrating when you stay on plan and everything then the scale doesn't validate your hard work. Keep it up, the scale will eventually cooperate. Adding exercise seeems like a good idea. I've heard that exercise can cause water retention becuase your muscles store extra water when they are repairing, so maybe that could explain some of the gain last time. It may temporarily make the scale go up, but exercise will undoubtedly burn calories and increase your calorie deficit in the long term so you may as well give it a try. And it is good for you in so many other ways, too.
Chelle - Glad you are feeling better. The water's good for you so no harm in drinking tons! Hope you have been able to get in lots of reading and relaxing while you have been home.
onthetee - A new car...how exciting! Do you use the vegetable oil for environmental reasons or economical reasons? Either way it is pretty cool.
Zinke - enjoy your day without the kids. If you start the c25k program March 1 you will easily be prepared for your race on July 19th. I think you should sign up for the race now as motivation to stay on track with the running plan!
Rhona - You are doing so great with staying on plan, more than a week already. Hope your project is nearing completion. Deadlines are so stressful, and they always cause me to procrastinate which increases the stressfulness. It will be over soon, though.
SCgirl - Hope you feel better soon...and when you are better I hope you will post some more pictures of that giant cute face on the little tiny body (and Franny too, please):D
VixJean - How fun getting your nails done. And after reading your post I decided I must have a skim mocha today, so my treat at 3 o'clock will be in your honor!
Kris - Yeah for 5 days! Have you looked at things like fiber 1 cereal to add fiber. I'm not sure how much you are restricting your carbs but something like that could add a significant amount of fiber for few calories. Or how about the low carb tortillas, I think they have like 8 grams of fiber and I'm guessing not too many carbs. Just ideas as I'm sure mass consumption of flax and broccoli will get old really quick.
Nori - How are your legs feeling today? You are going to be in your regular 16's in no time with workouts like that.
Purple - Thanks for sharing those quotes, they really do make you think. I definitely need to start shifting my focus away from the scales and to the process, just like the quotes suggest.
Ginger - Wow, I am so impressed with your discipline to leave all that tasty but bad food and go make your own healthy dinner. Good Job!
Selina - You and your spouse are such a blessing to the children you care for. I hope that you soon get that baby. About the sunshine, have you ever tried tanning? Perhaps doing something like that once a week would benefit your seasonal blues. I know it gets a bad rap because of skin cancer but if you look at it as "sun therapy" rather than tanning for cosmetic reasons it doesn't seem so unhealthy.

I'm going to take a freebie week this week, sorry. Hope everyone has an awesome weekend.